+1:D

This is quite useful, although the speed is 2G, but you can get all the exchange rate with EDGE anyway.

Actually, the $120 rate I listed is the top tier. The lowest is $30 for 120MB.

The problem with local SIM is that you first have to be there once to get the SIM, so next time you can do the swap on the plane. And if you are traveling through Europe, getting local SIMsssssssss can really be a challenge.

Also, if you use iPhones, swapping SIM cards can cause some technical issues on iMessage and so.

That's why I have a China Unicom iPhone for China, a 3HK HTC for HK, and a AT&T HTC for USA. I also have a AT&T hotspot, and I always activate the $120 for 800MB before any week long vacation. That will survive the internet surfing of me and my wife for about 10 days.

I'm in a similar boat. I use an unlocked HTC One from T-Mobile USA, and I maintain a Taiwan Mobile and Optus (Australia) SIM card. With T-Mobile offering the global data, it's certainly more convenient than stopping and getting a SIM card at every country. In some places like Macau or the UK there are prepaid data SIM cards for purchase in vending machines. In other places it's difficult or impossible for foreigners to get SIM cards (think Japan), and it's certainly a time sink if you're visiting a different destination every few days. I've also received bad information from vendors at the airport and run down a €30 prepaid balance in a few days. There was a vendor at Frankfurt who said my prepaid card was €1/day for 1 GB HSPA+ plus 4¢/minute calls to the US. It seemed too good to be true, but I was elated when it worked... for two days. After it quit working I went to another shop where the person said the data package was only 200 MB/month. :mad: I ended up having to buy another SIM. So, in that sense, the T-Mobile package has been great for international traveling and a quick way to get information like exchange rates or pending credit card transactions to see if I've been hit with DCC.

roaming data is a bit like DCC in the aspect that if you're fully aware, and willing to spend a bit of time on the problem then you can probably make savings.

It also penalises impatience - I was chastised by my boss for trying to buy a SIM card from K-Books in ICN...took forever because the sales girl had to link the SIM to the BP I flew in on (must be OZ. They won't sell me the SIM if I present CX boarding pass).

I now more often then not rent a HK$60/day (US$7.7) modem from HK before departure - but that's preparation also.

The only difference is how we perceive the value of the thing we're paying for.
With roaming we see it as a value-added service, for which we either get fleeced by our local phone carrier for roaming or we take the time to make the alternative work.
With DCC, we had a working, relatively low cost solution which is being taken away from us by underhanded means.

http://loyaltylobby.com/2013/08/14/w...ith-sim-cards/

As laid out by Visa/MC, it really never will be. There's never any meaningful competition if you have one DCC provider competing against the card association, and by a combination of misrepresentations, social engineering and outright non-compliance, cardholders rarely make meaningful, informed choices anyway.

You can't really put the genie back in the bottle - even if there is some way to compel Visa/MC to turn off DCC support in their card associations tomorrow, they're either in breach of their contractual arrangements or the DCC providers will sue Visa/MC for lack of due process anyway.

You can't really provide effective competition against the two card associations because of network effect so this problem isn't going away on its own.

You can't let issuers opt-out of DCC on behalf of cardholders either, because on the flip side, they will all choose to do so (and protect their FTF/Foreign Currency Conversion fees) which will leave Visa/MC exposed to antitrust charges.

What's left?
I suggested a Visa-operated chargeback mechanism before.
But what's probably simpler is to allow Visa/MC to let cardholders opt-in to no DCC.

It will be like a do-not-call register. Visa runs the site.
Anyone who registers cannot be DCCed no matter what how fxcked the terminal is.

Interesting option, though I won't trust certain competition watchdogs like ACCC going for it though, they're trying to make Visa make DCC more available!

But then again, Amex doesn't allow DCC , right? Where there's a will, there's a way. The acquirers who push DCC always say don't blame us. We're just providing a service many cardholders find convenient and if truth be told, as we've just discussed, many do. DCC in and of itself is not a scam provided I as a customer am given the choice required by visa/mc. In that regard, acquirers who push dcc may have a valid point that they are providing a service for those who wish it and in all fairness even though I hate DCC since I'm a big boy and can do the mental arithmetic on my own when I purchase something for 20 euro, I pretty much know how much I'm spending in USD, there are still those who can't or don't want to handle it. Whose fault is that?

It's the consumer's fault. The problem is that DCC is forced upon even those of us who don't want the service. I think one of the reasons you don't see DCC on AmEx or Discover is that unlike Visa/MC there aren't many third party issuers. I know that Citi and Fidelity have some AmEx branded cards but most AmEx cards are issued by AmEx themselves. I think all Discover cards are issued by Discover, but I could be mistaken. That gives them more control over the end-to-end process and less likely to allow DCC on their networks.

I'm pretty sure someone will think I'm silly for juggling all the SIMs I do. 3HK card for HK/mainland internet (HK$98/day for unlimited unfiltered internet on the mainland!), T-Mobile for US and some overseas voice/data ($50/500MB is a bit more affordable than $120/800), SoftBank for voice in Japan, China Unicom HK card for HK/Mainland/Taiwan voice/internet, Wind for most US/Canada data, and Virgin Mobile for voice and backup data in Canada, and China Mobile for mainland voice and for cheap full-speed data roaming in places like South Korea. I've got half of Asia and North America covered.

Even Discover isn't the sole issuer of cards on its network in the US (WalMart credit cards are on the Discover network, for instance), to say nothing of UnionPay/JCB/Diners Club cards on their network in the US and vice-versa making end-to-end control more complex.

Dude, which is your base of operation...?

Your arsenal intrigues me so much that I really have some questions~

1) Why you have both China Unicom and China Mobile? What is China Unicom HK?

2) I don't know China Mobile has super cheap data roaming in South Korea. How much is it? I think China Unicom has 200 CNY for 200MB data monthly package.

Using China's SIM cards for data can create all sorts of problems. I guess if you have a phone from China now, just try Google "USD to CNY" and tell me whether you are taken to Google or blocked...

I totally support this.

It is totally technologically feasible. I believe terminals all have their home currency information, that is why transactions in some countries tend to raise security flags. If Visa/MC detects transactions in the currencies that are not the local ones, they deny those.

Consumer opt-in is just like DCC, it's a feature, it's not mandatory. If DCC is legal, then this is too.

If Visa/MC don't bother to do this, we can always deface the receipt and do chargebacks.

So, it is not the end of the world at all guys! :cool:

Starting next December, you'll only need one SIM for all of Europe :D

in SIN I know that UOB/DBS/SCB issue AX cards as well as AX themselves.

Yep, but these are the exceptions more than the rule. I would say AmEx and Discover have a lot more tightly controlled network end-to-end than Visa and MC. If AmEx doesn't want to allow DCC for instance, it's more easily enforceable.

Amex and discover don't support dcc in the first place so your speculations about control of the networks seem to be moot.

In most countries there are probably more non-amex issued amex network cards than Amex issued cards. 4 Banks in the UK issue American Express cards (Lloyds, TSB, MBNA and Barclaycard). I know Australia is very similar along with several others like Russia, India and Greece.

The main reason there is no DCC on American Express transactions is because American Express is usually the acquirer (for its own transactions only obviously) and the network. It would make no sense to have DCC as American Express makes the foreign transaction fee (off the issuer if not an Amex issued card and usually off the customer if it is an Amex card). American Express would be competing with themselves!

Citibank offers an Amex card on AA. It charges the usual citibank 3% ftf (most use the AA mastercard I think). BA has an Amex card, at least one. Pen Fed has an Amex card, at least one.

Now the question of acquirer. Long long ago, once upon a time, merchants signed up with banks to accept whatever cc the bank accepted, then signed up with Amex to accept Amex cards, then signed up with Diners to accept DC until it was purchased by Citibank, then signed up with Discover when it came out.

But then as time marched forward, you signed up with a credit card processor to the point and I just use it as an example people signed up say with square.com and you could take all of them. In a few cases, there might be a slight difference in the discount rate if you took Amex. So when I take a credit card via my square account, for the 3 or 4 transacton I might do a year with or without a surcharge ;)... is square the acquirer? How many merchants, all kidding aside, have signed up with whatever company pushing dcc. Since it's all automatic today I assume that what happens in an Amex transaction the pos terminal will not flash a choice to be made of currency whereas with visa/mc it will.

I know the response is a bit convoluted to say the least but I guess it's not as simple as we would like to believe it is.